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Category: Miscellaneous

Published March 12, 2012

Why Is “Downton Abbey” So Popular?

It was Spring Break last week at Duke, so I enjoyed all that “free” time to do two things. During the day, I worked on revising a few research papers that are in various stages of production. At night, I watched all of the BBC’s ITV’s Downton Abbey.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but I wonder why I — and, apparently, hundreds of thousands of others — enjoyed it so much. When all is said and done, most of the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and The Wire this is not. But if you’ve not seen the show and plan on watching it, skip the next two paragraphs to avoid the spoilers.

Thomas and O’Brien, who are respectively a footman and the lady’s maid, are always bad. Anna and Bates, who are respectively the head housemaid and the lord’s valet, are always good. Perhaps the only character who exhibits a bit of depth is the dowager countess, brilliantly played by Maggie Smith.

(Yes, I know: Bates is in prison for the death of his wife. But is there any doubt that season 3 will bring a new development which will exonerate him?)

Continue readingWhy Is “Downton Abbey” So Popular?
Published March 9, 2012

Spring Break Classic Posts: What I’ve Learned from a Year of Blogging: Advice for Would-Be Bloggers

(It’s Spring Break here this week, so I am taking the week off from blogging to work to revise a few articles and begin working on new research projects. As a result, I am re-posting old posts that some new readers might have missed but which were very popular the first time I posted them. The following was initially posted on January 4, 2012.)

A grad-school colleague and dear friend of mine has recently gotten tenure and will be going on research leave next year. In a recent email exchange about something we are working on together (and which will hopefully become a working paper sometime next summer), she told me that she’d been toying with the idea of joining the blogosphere, and that she welcomed any advice I might have for her.

Since I spent a good amount of time thinking about what I wish I had known a year ago, I thought I should share it more broadly. Here is a list of 15 things I wish I’d known before I started blogging. If you have a blog (and it need not be academic), please add your own suggestions in the comments.

Continue readingSpring Break Classic Posts: What I’ve Learned from a Year of Blogging: Advice for Would-Be Bloggers
Published February 28, 2012

Aid Bloggers’ Best Award 2011: Thank You!

“A certain measure of righteousness
A certain amount of force
A certain degree of determination
Daring on a different course.”

– Rush, “One Little Victory.”

Because I took the week off from blogging last week to apply for a grant, I had forgotten all about the Aid Bloggers’ Best Awards (ABBAs) until this afternoon, when I read Lawrence Haddad’s post on the topic. Lawrence’s Development Horizons blog came in fifth in the “Best Academic Blog” category.

What really — and I mean, really — surprised me was that this blog came in second in the “Best Academic Blog” category.

Make no mistake: with 59 percent of the votes, Chris Blattman is the clear winner in that category, and I came in a distant second with 14 percent of the votes. But given the sheer size of Chris’ readership (with almost one million page views per year, he also won in the “Best Aid Blog” category), this second place feels every bit like a victory. So I want to thank everyone for their vote. Thank you!